ROBERTSDALE — Cris Bell acknowledged the tall task he has in taking over the Robertsdale Golden Bear program that owns a 24-game losing streak. While he said he has always enjoyed tall challenges, he said there’s only one way to tackle that adversity.

“The losing streak is what it is. We’re not going to run away from it. You’re not going to close your eyes and then all of a sudden it’s gone,” Bell said on Monday. “We’ve lost 24 games in a row and there’s a reason we’ve lost 24 games in a row so the challenge to the kids is that if we continue to do the things that we’ve done for the last two-and-a-half-plus years, nothing’s going to change.”

Although there is no one-step solution, Bell knows the Golden Bears will have to consistently put in work every day before the season opener scheduled for Aug. 23 against Chickasaw.

“Our mantra is ‘Pound The Rock,’ and if I’ve got a big old boulder and there’s something underneath that I want to get to and all I have is a sledge hammer, I have to come out every day and just swing that hammer and that’s what we’re going to do,” Bell said. “We’re going to swing the hammer tomorrow, we’re going to come out Wednesday and swing the hammer, we’re going to come out Thursday and swing the hammer, and Friday and on the weekend I expect them to swing it on their own. Then next week, on Monday, we’re going to get after it and do the same thing. Over, and over, and over, and over again.”

Since turning the boulder into pebbles will indeed take some time, Bell asked the community to check back in on the program in August to see what progress has been made yet.

“I’m not going to sugarcoat anything, guys it’s bad. It might be as bad as I’ve ever seen it but here’s the deal: it’s nothing a little hard work can’t fix. Nothing that a little belief can’t fix,” Bell said to the crowd. “Give me six months and let’s see if this program isn’t better. When we start fall camp in August, are we not better than we are right now? I don’t know that it’s going to bring us any more wins or not but I can tell you this, we’re going to be a better football program.”

Cris Bell doubles down and says if @RdaleGBFootball still isn’t better in six months then the community can send him packing before the Golden Bears play a game. But just asks for a little bit of faith and a little bit of hard work. Stay tuned for more! #ALHSFB @AL7AFootball pic.twitter.com/kI1hk1dLYb

— Gulf Coast Media Sports (@GCMSportsAL) February 27, 2024

The crowd responded with loud cheers on multiple occasions and that wasn’t the only thing that was different between Monday night and some of the other new-coach introductions he’s experienced. The Robertsdale High School band was on hand and provided the soundtrack, the JROTC program presented the colors and a Golden Bear cheerleader sang the national anthem and brought the pep with the rest of her teammates.

“This was fun, I think people are hungry for it,” Bell said of the ceremony. “That’s a good spot to be when people get tired of being the laughingstock so there’s an amount of resolve that comes with that and I sense that, so that’s encouraging.”

In the short time he’s spent with the Robertsdale athletes, Bell can see a similar mindset from the players.

“The kids have been phenomenal. They have responded extremely well, they’re extremely hungry. I’ve had almost three weeks with them, but their work ethic is great,” Bell said. “People are going to get tired getting beat up on so I think there’s a mental resolve that they have and at some point you just have to get tired of getting sand kicked in your face and I think from what I can tell, our guys are there.”

All that’s left is to put the work in and as Bell knows, there is no shortcut to the top of the mountain but that the Golden Bears can make their own path there.

“There’s not a magic formula, it just takes a lot of work. And we’re going to get up a little bit earlier each morning and just roll up our sleeves and go,” Bell said. “The exciting thing is that you have no idea what the potential could be because the surface hasn’t even been scratched to this point so it’s a blank canvas and we’ve got a chance to make it whatever we want it to be.”